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Thursday, 29 March 2012

I organised a bit of crafting fun with friends last Sunday and it was great to get together where I wasn't working and do some creating! Although we met at the shop this was purely a 'friend' thing and we each brought some food to share. The night before I was playing on Pinterest and I found a picture of the cutest easter chickies, so I made them! I was going to make deviled eggs (modified for the Dukan diet) but these were nicer. I would like to link to the original source except the 'pin' was a photo on Facebook, and although I have done a google images search using the original photo, I can't find the source. But this isn't my idea and if anyone can find the source I will be happy to link to it. Everything I found just referred back to the same photo or claimed the idea as their own even though they were posting it months later (naughty, naughty!). They kind of remind me of soldiers with their round hats! LOL

Deviled Egg Chickies!!!

I know, I should have cut the olive pieces for the eyes smaller as they are slightly evil looking. :-) But everyone loved them! To make them Dukan friendly I just changed the mayo to low fat Greek yogurt and you couldn't even taste the difference. I also found a recipe for Greek Eggplant Dip and I made Jamie Oliver's Tzatziki and a beef meatball recipe. Everything in the photo below was Dukan friendly with the exception on the crackers. As two of my friends have now joined me on my weight-loss journey it gave us all something to eat. But I will admit that I broke my diet that day :-) There has to be ONE bad day every now and again! And as I have now lost over 15kg I can live with one afternoon of indulgence!

My food for our spread.

We had a wonderful afternoon chatting and crafting even if I only got one and a half pages done. The first page I really like and was based on Shimelle's sketch this week. If I ever get home in time to photograph it I will post it as I am so happy with it.

I hope you are having a wonderful March. My April is looking harder but brighter and soon there will be some big changes to come. But after the dust has settled I will hopefully have more time for crafting and blogging! If I don't get a chance to post my page I will see you all Sunday for a new story for April ... hmmmmmm .... now to think of one!

Saturday, 3 March 2012

In honour of Storytelling Sunday with Sian, and St Patrick's Day, I thought I would share with you a collection of short stories and pictures from the years we spent in Ireland. Our first year in Ireland was spent in Dublin and we didn't go watch the parade in the city. But after moving to a small town in the heart of Ireland we really embraced the holiday. I don't have digital photos of our first parade and the hard copies are still packed. But that year the kids participated by dressing up in that years theme 'Fairy Tales'. The Princess was a Princess (surprise, surprise!), The Extrovert was Prince Charming complete with crown and sword. The Thinker went as the Pied Piper and I stitched soft sculpture mice and rats all over his jacket and hat. He was very excited as he won a prize!

By 2005 both boys were Beavers in the local scout group. As a group they dressed up as snakes in honour of the myth of St Patrick driving all the snakes from Ireland. If you look closely in the photo the snake on the right peering out from under his mask is The Extrovert and the orange snake behind him is The Thinker.

The Princess at the parade

The Princess thought is was wonderful watching her brothers march in the parade from the sidelines. Most of the floats are pulled by tractors and they featured local businesses and groups. One time there was a 'shotgun wedding'!!! It was very funny.

She even got all dressed up for the occasion.

The Thinker & The Extrovert

The Extrovert

By the following year I had started to get more involved in the community and was in the process of opening my first craft shop (we actually opened about a week later). With the help of another parent, who used to make costumes for a living, we organised for our kid's school to march in the parade. The theme of the year was circus or carnival and she produced some great costumes. Most of the kids in the school participated and we were a colourful sight to behold!!! The Extrovert was in Cubs (next level up in Scouts) by then and he chose to march with them as he had already made is costume. He painted all the colours and made the neck ruffle while at cubs.

Until looking for these photos I had forgotten all about sewing a white clown costume for him to decorate. There weren't any fabric stores where we lived and so the fabric of choice was usually stolen from sheets :-) His was made from an old white flannel sheet. He even wrote on the back "Happy St Patrick's Day"!

However this St Patrick's Day was not like any other we had spent in Ireland. It was FREEZING!!! I don't think it even got to 5C and the wind was fierce and bitterly cold! We rugged every child up in as many layers as would fit under their costume. The Princess wore three layers of clothing, plus her scarf and gloves, and in the end she even put her woollen beanie on under the flowers. Isn't she a colourful flower girl?

The Thinker was one of the multi-coloured clowns. Even I had to look twice to see if it was him under all that colour!

And finally here I am! I had to lead the parade and there was NO room for extra layers under my costume. I have never been so cold in all my life!!!

Don't they all look cold? The march paused in front of some friends and one of them leant The Extrovert a pair of gloves as he was chattering and his fingers were red. He was only half way through town by then!

And then came our school group. That is me at the front and we go all the way back to the tall yellow giraffes. I feel cold just looking at these pictures! But on a side note, if you look down the street on the right ... just after the street light you will see a red shop front, then a dark green shop front and then the first bit of black you see was my shop front.

It took more than an hour for me to stop shivering that day! It was just one of those freaky weather days.

The Thinker

We were all excited about being in the parade again the following year but small town politics and soaring insurance premiums got in the way and our parade was cancelled. Along with many other small town parades. We didn't get to march in another parade until 2009 and that wasn't in our home town but in the closest 'large' town. Here are a few photos of us at the marshalling area. In contrast to our previous parade it was such a warm day we were afraid some of the smaller kids weren't going to make it to the end without fainting. Here we all were in our warm uniforms and the sun was gloriously warm!

The Princess

By then The Princess was in Beavers and I was a Beaver leader. The Thinker was a Cub and The Extrovert was a Scout. If I had known then that this was to have been our last St Patrick's Day in Ireland I would have had someone take photos of us marching. Unfortunately we didn't have anyone in the crowd to take photos that year and I didn't get a photo of The Extrovert as he kept playing up in front on the camera.

Our little town does now have their parade back and it is great to see community spirit alive and well today. I just wish I was there to see it. We now don't live somewhere that celebrates St Patrick's day, but we are having a 'St Patrick's Day 12hr Craft-a-thon' in the store. So we will still get a little bit of a celebration.

Not a traditional story this month but I hope you liked it anyway. So where ever you may be, enjoy your St Patrick's Day. If you are ever in Ireland for St Patrick's Day you must go out into a smaller town and experience a local parade. There is always music and a Guinness or two afterwards.

If you like to read a story or tell one yourself, head on over to Sian at From High In The Sky and join in the fun. There were lots of stories to read last month and I am looking forward to reading all of the new ones this month.